10 Insanely Elite Statistical NBA Clubs
Only legends are in the 50-40-90 crew.
Image via Complex Original
On November 30, 2014, Kobe Bryant became the first player in NBA history to log 30,000 points and 6,000 assists. It's an astounding feat that comes as the result of incredible talent, great consistency, and impressive longevity. LeBron James, who is currently at 23,901 points and 6,012 assists, is probably the only other player who will join Kobe, making it a lovely party of two. That got us thinking: What other sort of random—but ridiculously impressive—statistical clubs are there in the NBA?
We dug around game logs, yearly totals, averages, and playoff performances and turned up small groups of players who will forever live in NBA history. Find out why Stephon Marbury and Latrell Sprewell are members of one of these 10 Insanely Elite Statistical NBA Clubs.
[Stats compiled using Basketball Reference and ESPN, starting from 1963]
Single-Season Averages: 50% FG, 40% 3PT, 90% FT
Kevin Durant ('12-'13 - .510, .416, .905)
Don't be surprised if we see him do this again.
Steve Nash ('05-'06 - .512, .439, .921 and '07-'08 - .504, .470, .906)
Maybe this is why he has two MVPs and Kobe only has one ...
Dirk Nowitzki ('06-'07 - .502, .416, .904)
Dirk has only shot more than 50 percent from the field twice in his career, but the fact that he's seven foot and shoots like this is still mind-boggling. There will never be another player like Dirk.
Larry Bird ('86-'87 - .525, .400, .910 and '87-'88 - .527, .414, .916)
The Hick from French Lick could pick and choose how to stick it to the people who called him a hick.
Reggie Miller ('93-'94 - .503, .421, .908)
Consistent shooting, consistent loyalty to the Pacers, and consistent trash talk to anybody who got in his way. What more can you ask of an NBA player?
Mark Price ('88-'89 - .526, .441, .901)
LeBron has never even come close to hitting 90 percent of his free throws. Just sayin'.
Steve Kerr ('95-'96 - .506, .515, .929)
His three-point percentage was better than his two-point and overall percentages. He also has a higher free throw percentage than anybody else on the list. Jordan's support was kind of good.
Jose Calderon ('07-'08 - .519, .429, .908)
The late '00s were full of great shooters.
Triple-Double in First NBA Start
Tony Wroten (Nov. 13, 2013)
This is how you show your coach he made the correct decision. After minor minutes with Memphis, the team that drafted him, Philadelphia gave Wroten a shot when Michael Carter-Williams was injured. It was not only his first trip-dub in his first NBA start, it was his first trip-dub at any level of basketball in his life.
80+ Consecutive Free Throws Made
Micheal Williams ('97-'93)
Williams only played four complete seasons during his injury-laden career. He didn't have insanely spectacular shooting numbers. He only cracked .900 from the line one time. But he has an NBA record that might never be broken.
Jose Calderon ('87-'09)
Calderon has quietly been one of the most solid and consistent point guards of the past decade. Along with his .412 career three-point shooting percentage, he's nearly a lock for two points every time he goes to the line.
Mahmoud Abdul Rauf ('81-'93)
Also known as Chris Jackson, Abdul Rauf was one of the greatest free throw shooters of all time during his short eight-year stint in the NBA. He was a career .905 shooter from the charity stripe, and he shot better than .930 three different years, including shooting an insane .956 in '93-'94.
Scoring 40+ Points in Single Game for Three Different Teams
Wilt Chamberlian ('63-65 - 53 times, '65-68 - 30 times, '69-'71 - five times with Lakers)
Shaquille O'Neal ('93-'96 - 21 times with Magic, '96-'03 - 26 times with Lakers, '04 - once with Heat, '09 - once with Suns)
Bernard King ('77-'79 - five times with Nets, '81-'82 - four times with Warriors, '82-'85 - 23 times with Knicks, '89-'91 - 13 times with Bullets)
Moses Malone ('79-'82 - 22 times with Rockets, '84-'86 - twice with the 76ers, '87 - twice with the Bullets)
Jamal Crawford ('03-'04 - twice with Bulls, '04-'08, four times with Knicks, '08 - twice with Warriors)
Stephon Marbury ('04-'07 - five times with Knicks, '02-03 - five times with Suns, '99-'01 - four times with Nets, '99 - once with Timberwolves)
This is where the comparisons between Starbury and Shaq Diesel start and extremely quickly end. Had Shaq been able to out-duel Hakeem Olajuwon, the Magic might have stood a chance against the Rockets in the '95 Finals and Shaq might have had another elite status of being an NBA Champion with three different teams.
Level Up: Crawford, Malone, King, and Chamberlain are the only players to ever score 50 points or more for three teams.
At Least 5 PTS, 5 AST, 5 REB, 5 STL, 5 BLK in Single Game (Regular Season)
Nicolas Batum (Dec. 16, 2012 - 11 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK)
Andrei Kirilenko (3 times, most notably Jan. 3, 2006 - 14 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST, 6 STL, 7 BLK)
Hakeem Olajuwon (8 times, most notably March 10, 1987 - 38 PTS, 17 REB, 6 AST, 7 STL, 12 BLK)
Derek Coleman (Jan. 15, 1993 - 21 PTS, 10 REB, 7 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK)
David Robinson (Nov. 10, 1992 - 29 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 5 STL, 10 BLK)
Jamaal Tinsley (Nov. 16, 2001 - 12 PTS, 8 REB, 15 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK)
Vlade Divac (Feb. 22, 1995 - 19 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK)
Marcus Camby (Jan. 9, 2004 - 8 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST, 5 STL, 8 BLK)
Raise your hand if you would have thought to put Andrei Kirilenko amongst the NBA's all-around elites. No you wouldn't have, stop lying. Although his overall career stats aren't the most flashy, Kirilenko was contributing from all over the court during his prime. He stands with the gawd Olajuwon as the only two players with multiple 5x5s. Olajuwon obviously is in another stratosphere in comparison, as he put together the most gorgeous fantasy lines of all time.
At Least 20 PTS, 20 REB, 10 BLK in Single Game (Regular Season)
Hakeem Olajuwon (Nov. 11, 1989 - 24 PTS, 21 REB, 12 BLK and Dec. 17, 1989 - 32 PTS, 25 REB, 10 BLK)
Shaquille O'Neal (Nov. 20, 1993 - 24 PTS, 28 REB, 15 BLK)
Joakim Noah (Feb. 28, 2013 - 23 PTS, 21 REB, 11 BLK)
Shawn Bradley (April 7, 1998 - 22 PTS, 22 REB, 13 BLK)
Another club, another Olajuwon sighting. If you haven't noticed, he could do everything and do everything extremely well. Joakim Noah is one of the NBA's new all-around big guys. Almost equally as impressive as this line is the fact that he also registered a triple double with assists in the same year and averaged four dimes on the season. Big men with fantastic court vision >>>>
20 PTS, 20 AST in Playoff Game
John Stockton (May 17, 1988 - 23 PTS, 24 AST, 3 REB, 5 STL and May 21, 1988 - 29 PTS, 20 AST, 1 REB, 5 STL)
Tim Hardaway (May 14, 1991 - 27 PTS, 20 AST, 1 REB, 5 STL)
Magic Johnson (May 28, 1989 - 21 PTS, 20 AST, 6 REB, 3 STL and June 4, 1987 - 22 PTS, 20 AST, 5 REB, 3 STL)
How special is this club? The door has been closed and padlocked for nearly 24 years. That special.
50+ PTS, on 65%+ FG Shooting in Playoff Game
Charles Barkley (May 4, 1994 - 56 PTS, 23/31 FG, 7/9 FT)
Michael Jordan (April 29, 1992 - 56 PTS, 20/30 FG, 16/18 FT)
Allen Iverson (April 20, 2003 - 55 PTS, 21/32 FG, 10/11 FT and May 16, 2001 - 52 PTS, 21/32 FG, 2/2 FT)
Sleepy Floyd (May 10, 1987 - 51 PTS, 18/26 FG, 13/14 FT)
Vince Carter (May 11, 2001 - 50 PTS, 19/29 FG, 3/3 FT)
Dominique Wilkins (April 19, 1986 - 50 PTS, 19/28 FG, 12/15 FT)
From this insane list of performances in the clutch, there are several added nuggets to consider that make each of them more unique and incredible. Floyd and Barkley are the only two who recorded double-doubles with their 50-plus points. Floyd notched 10 assists, and Barkley grabbed 14 boards. Neither Jordan nor Wilkins took a single three-pointer during their outings. Vince Carter knocked down 9/13 shots from long range when he dropped 50, though. Possibly the most amazing stat from these games is the fact that Wilkins is the only player who had more than four turnovers with six.
30+ Points in 20 Minutes or Less Playing Time
Kiki Vandeweghe (April 15, 1988 - 36 PTS, 20 MIN, 10/14 FG, 15/15 FT)
Kiki made a name for himself as a Nugget, but his most impressive scoring performance (one of the greatest in NBA history) came when he was a part of the Portland Trail Blazers. Thanks in part to getting to the free throw line, and shooting perfectly, 15 times. Even more impressively, he reached 36 points while only making one three pointer. He tossed in three assists just for the fun of it, as well.
Kevin Durant (Dec. 18, 2014 - 30 PTS, 19 MIN, 10/13 FG, 5/7 FT)
This was only Durant's ninth game back from an injury earlier this year, and he absolutely went OFF. Sadly, during that 19th minute of play, he landed wrong on his ankle, which took him out of this matchup against the Warriors, as well as six games following. Fun fact about this: Russell Westbrook took 30 shots during this game and only made one more than Durant. In 40 minutes, Westbrook finished with 33 points.
Most 3PT Without Any Misses in Single Game: 9
Ben Gordon (April 14, 2006 and March 21, 2012)
Gordon is one of the greatest three-point shooters of our generation and of all time. He's been consistently draining bombs for the past decade, averaging a phenomenal 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. He hit a record nine three-pointers without missing throughout the entire game TWICE, once while he was on the Bulls and once while he was with the Pistons. In the Bulls performance, his 32 points helped take down Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards. With the Pistons he posted 45 in a losing effort. As Wale would say, "young Ben Gordon, play through all the bullshit."
Latrell Sprewell (Feb. 4, 2003)
Sprewell, who shot a career 33.7 percent from three, was a bit more of a surprise to hit this record. The record came as part of a 38-point effort, a season-high, against the Clippers. And no, he wasn't wearing his signature Dada spinners.